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What is it about this place that just gets to you? Even when I hate it, I can’t help but love it. This place just gets under my skin. The birds. The birds in this place are loud. They screech, they squawk, they laugh. They can be raucous and lyrical and evocative. They are everywhere. And […]

10

“Are you a Feminist?” an audience member asked the panel of women on Q&A. What? My jaw hit the floor. I couldn’t believe it. What woman would not identify as a Feminist? Who wouldn’t want equal rights for women? I guess it’s understandable why some women and men in today’s world might think access to […]

12

I was talking to someone at a party once and mentioned concerns I had with the Howard Government’s treatment of asylum seekers. “What are you?” said the man. “A bloody, tree-hugging Leftie?” I was shocked. I didn’t think of myself as anything in particular. I’d never been a member of a political party and had voted across […]

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For a long time, I’ve been filled with great sadness – even shame – at our successive governments’ treatment of people who seek asylum in our country – and I had wanted to write a post lamenting the state of things. But I haven’t. I haven’t written such a post because for some reason my […]

3

Recently I was watching an episode of the ABC’s ‘Family Confidential’ about a prominent Australian family, when suddenly I heard the narrator say, “Therese was too ambitious to be a stay-at-home mum”. Pardon? Here is the English Collins Dictionary’s definition of ‘ambitious’: having a strong desire for success or achievement necessitating extraordinary effort or ability […]

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Ever since Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi called for the ABC’s funding to be cut and again today with Prime Minister Tony Abbot arguing that the ABC is taking ”everyone’s side but Australia’s”, I have been reflecting on the ABC and what it means to me. And it means a great deal, as it turns out. […]

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I came to this motherhood thing late in life. I was 41 when I had our daughter. And if you’re wondering – no, this wasn’t the plan, but that’s what happened. A two-decades-long career later, I found myself at home with an infant engaged in the drudgery and repetition that seemed to define – at […]

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I was recently at a café with a girlfriend and while we were at the counter ordering a muffin, a waitress approached my friend and simply said “I think you are pretty”. That was it, nothing further. My companion was completely baffled by this. She couldn’t seem to understand why someone would compliment her on […]

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I really don’t understand these people who announce they are ‘trying’. You go out for a drink and before you know it, they are telling you that after their Easter holiday, they are going to start trying for a baby. Apart from this being far too much information, what is the appropriate response to such […]

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Today in a bookstore the girl behind the counter told me she is regularly confronted by customers who ignore the queue to pay for their book because they say the just don’t have time to line up. How can this be? People who are so busy that lining up to make a purchase is time […]